Durant prepares for softball tournament

DURANT, Okla. -- Watching and playing softball can be fun, but for the city of Durant it may also lucrative. Officials say they have spent a lot of time getting ready for the upcoming weekend's tournament.

At the Durant Multi Sports Complex, workers are busy preparing for a softball tournament that officials expect to bring a lot of revenue to the city.

Assistant city manager Tim Young says Durant has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on improvements for complex over the last few months including a new parking lot and lighting for the fields to get ready for the Lone Star Conference Softball Tournament this weekend.

Young says the money has been well spent.

"This is going to bring a lot of excitement to the city, of course. This is the first time we've been able to host a big event such as this. We competed against cities such as Irving and Plano, Texas, and were successful in landing this bid for three years."

People around the city are excited about the complex, saying it's great for the community.

"I’m real excited that young people will have something like this as a resource when they want to compete in sports, and also for the community because it stimulates and interests people to get out and get busy," Durant resident Maureen Rivera says.

Young says besides the tournament bringing more notoriety to the city, it's also going to bring in a lot of money.

"The economic impact is going to be tremendous. This weekend we've already booked every hotel room in the city and I believe as soon as the two new hotels open, they too would've been booked."

The fourteen small to mid-sized university softball teams will arrive in Durant later this week. The girls will play Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Besides the tournament, local kids will also get the chance to play soccer and baseball at the facility.

Sports complex managers say they expect there to be up to 2,000 people at the facility this weekend.

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